DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Arguments are a poor chisel to carve out solutions.”

After a week long trip to Texas for my induction in the Athletic Hall of Fame at my alma mater, Hardin Simmons University, I’m back home and it’s going to take a nuclear bomb to get me out of Vegas until next year. I had a great time visiting with old classmates, some of whom I hadn’t seen in over 50 yeas. There were about 15 of my ex-teammates who attended and I was on my best behavior and never mentioned the many times the school had rejected me because of my profession. But I understand and would like to let bygones be bygones.

The most notable thing about Texas is that the recession hasn’t affected it very much. The farms are white with a good cotton crop, the oil wells are pumping and the biggest saviour of all are the wind farms. The wind towers are amazing with each one generating enough electricity for 35-40 homes. There are thousands of the giant generators as far as you can see as you drive along the interstate highways. It makes you wonder why these wind farms aren’t all across the USA. It only takes a 6 mile per hour wind to turn them. If we had enough of them, we would be out of the bondage the Middle East has us in.

I went out to the little town of Longworth where I grew up. It is almost a ghost town with maybe 10 families living there. The old Brunson house is long gone but there is a trailer parked on the lot and the man living there invited us in to look around. Some of the things are still there, the old chicken coops, the barn where we had our cows and an old root cellar I helped dig in 1949. I enjoy going back every decade or so because it makes me realize you can’t go back, you have to go forward with your life.

Congrats to Mike Sexton on being selected for the poker Hall of Fame. It is a well-deserved honor and Harrah’s has some great plans for his induction. The time is getting close for the WSOP Final Table, also. I wish all of the guys good luck but I’m pulling for Ivey and Schulman. I’m sure it will be a lot of fun for everyone.

Avery Cardoza, my publisher, called me today and my autobiography has come in. It will be in the bookstores Nov. 10th and I’ve got mixed feelings about having done this book. Everyone seems to like it so maybe it will be o.k. The author of the book, Mike Cochran, was at the presentation dinner at my University and we had a nice visit. It is absolutely amazing how fast time can go, it seems like yesterday I was in school. I also saw Ann, my college fiance who looks much better than I do. She probably didn’t have as tough a life as me. I certainly hope not!

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”

Since everyone is wondering who is going into the Poker Hall of Fame this year, I thought it would be interesting to have a Poker Hall of Shame. This would consist of poker players who abuse dealers, players, or both. The only other criteria to make the Hall would be you gotta be dead. We all know living players who deserve to be in, but we don’t want to make too many enemies.

Maybe this will inspire some of us living players to be ore courteous to the dealers and our fellow players. I know I could be a lot better even though I do try to keep control of my temper. I never saw Chip Reese lose control, nor have I seen Barry Greenstein be abusive to anyone. We should learn from them. The Poker Hall of Fame started with six inductees the first year so I’ll start with the same number. Perhaps more will be added later.

In no particular order:

1. Puggy Pearson – a great poker player who vented his frustrations to both dealers and players. I once saw a lady Chinese dealer take a high heeled shoe and hit Pug repeatedly after he pushed her when he lost a pot.
2. John “Doc” Holliday – “I’m your huckleberry”, words uttered by Doc Holliday in the movie Tombstone. There are written accounts Doc killed at least nine men, mostly at the poker table. I guess you could call that abusive!
3. Nick “Shoeshine” Simpson – He was abusive on to the dealers. Nick was the head man in the cheating rings in the 60’s and 70’s. I once saw him urinate under the table on a dealer’s leg after a bad beat. Bill Boyd, former card room manager at the Golden Nugget once shot Nick in the butt after warning Nick not to cheat. I always admired Bill for that.
4. “Nigger Nate” Lanette – Please, no racist comments about his name. That is what everybody called him before he died in the early 70’s. He bit a dealer’s ear off in the Stardust then returned the next day and gave the dealer $5,000. Nate was questioned in the shooting death of mobster Arnold Rothstein after an argument about a poker game.
5. Stu Ungar – Stu “The Kid” Ungar was the most volatile person I’ve ever seen at a poker table. It was like some demon possessed person you see in horror movies. He would just erupt and use the most foul language you can imagine. I saw Stu spit on bad cards and throw them back to the dealer. Away from poker, he was a likeable person.
6. Nick Vacchiano – “Nicky Vach”, everybody called this handsome player. He was a ladies man, everywhere except the poker table. He would try to get in the one or eight seat where he could talk in a low voice to the dealers, particularly women. I saw him make a young dealer at the Flamingo actually cry.

This blog is the result of having too much time on your hands. I remember writing something like this a year or so ago. I’m in Montana, it’s too cold to go on the lake and after 4 days, I’m ready to go back to Vegas and find some action

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Reputation is a bubble which bursts when a man tries to blow it up for himself.”

I’m getting lots of calls and emails about the Poker Hall of Fame induction in November and my opinion of the candidates. For those of you who don’t know this, this is the first year that the public votes for who they think should be nominated. Then the top 10 players from their vote are sent to the 15 living members of the HOF and to 15 media people. We each have 2 votes so here are my thoughts. Remember, these are my thoughts. If you don’t agree with me, please don’t start a civil war about it.

The criteria for selection is:
(1) Must have played against top competition.
(2) Played for high stakes.
(3) Played consistently well, gaining respect of their peers.
(4) Stood the test of time.
(5) Contributed to the overall growth and success of poker with positive and lasting results.

Here are the players in alphabetical order and my opinions about each one.

(1) Tom Dwan – It’s really an honor for Tom to be a nominee at the age of 22. Obviously, he can’t meet the criteria that are listed. I think he is a fine player and barring something unforeseen, his picture will be on the wall someday.

(2) Barry Greenstein – Barry meets all the requirements. I think he was a much better choice when he was a cash game player only. He is in my top 3 or 4 choices.

(3) Dan Harrington – “Action Dan” as he is known would be a good representative of the poker world.  He has a lot of interests outside poker, which will go against him.

(4) Phil Ivey – This is where I’ll get a lot of heat, because I think the Halls of Fame for any sport is for players whose careers have more to look back at than look forward to. Phil isn’t even at the height of his career yet but is a 100% cinch to be inducted soon. I’ve got a feeling I’m going to lose this argument which is OK if I do.

(5) Tom McEvoy – Tom is a long time ambassador of poker and is one of the old guys that I favor. I understand that playing for high stakes is different for everybody. You have to be a little bit crazy to play the stakes some of us play for, but Tom has put his time in at the tables.

(6) Men Nguyen – I’ve admired Men’s work ethic for years. Nobody has played and supported tournaments as much as Men. He has several player of the year awards as proof of that.

(7) Scotty Nguyen – Anybody that is called “The Prince of Poker” has to be a viable candidate. He is one of the best all-around players and he certainly meets the criteria well.

(8) Daniel Negreanu – What can I say here? go back and read what I said about Phil Ivey and pretend it’s here. Daniel is my choice to outlast any of the “young guns” people keep talking about Daniel and Phil both meet all 5 criteria.

(9) Eric Seidel – Eric is definitely one of my top choices. I think he is the consummate gambler. Besides being a great player, he has the best all-around disposition of anyone. He reminds me of Chip Reese, which is the highest compliment I can pay anyone.

(10) Mike Sexton – In my opinion, here is the #1 choice. Mike paid his dues at the table for years, gambled as high as his bankroll allowed and meets all the requirements for induction. Mostly, go back and read #5 in the criteria. Nobody and I mean nobody has contributed more to the success of poker than Mike Sexton. If he isn’t one of the people selected, something is wrong. I know of 3 votes from the living members at the HOF that Mike will get. Binion and Crandell Addington both assure me Mike will be their 1st choice, also.

So there you have it. It would be impossible to make a bad choice from this list of players. It will be interesting, to say the least, who the two inductees will be. Kudos to Harrah’s for changing the process!

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “Take risks. Tomorrow you may not be able to do what you can today.”

When I played poker every day for seven straight weeks, I felt strong as a lion. Now after 3 days of not playing, I feel like a truck just ran over me. I bet a psychiatrist would have a field day trying to analyze poker players. Maybe we are addicted and we actually have withdrawal symptoms when we have no action. Of course the last three plays I made at Bobby’s Room, I lost 600K, 700K and 600K again. And yes, I was that much winner. I broke out almost exactly even. I’m sure those losses contributed to the blah feeling I’m now experiencing.

I just re-read the paragraph I just wrote and went to laughing. If you can’t handle the ups & downs, you better not get into the poker business. After 50 years of playing professionally, I should know that better than anyone. The sun is still going to come up in the east in the morning and a new day will begin. Hopefully, it will be a good one.

It’s almost time to vote for the 2009 inductees into the Poker Hall Of Fame and I’m unsure of who my choices will be. I’m leaning toward the older guys with my first choice being Mike Sexton. We have to pick two and I’m thinking hard about my other vote. Phil Ivey is the best player on the list, but he is only 33 years old. Chip Reese is the youngest player to be inducted at the age of 40. Phil is great, but he still isn’t Chip. Give Phil a few more years and he will certainly be elected. I’ll be cheering for him and Jeff Shulman in November at the WSOP final table.

I’m doing my best to get my work done for updating SS/2 along with editing my autobiography. I got a lot done but it’s really tough to sit at a desk all day long. My hat is off to the folks that do stuff like this for a living.

After going down to take care of the ticket I got in my new Escalade, I tried to figure out all the gadgets on it. After finding where the windshield wipers were, how to work the Onstar and how to turn the lift package off, I gave up. I think time has passed me by.

I had a great dinner last night at my son Todd’s house. Todd can really cook and goes to a lot of trouble to be sure it’s good. He should get a job as a chef somewhere. Jack Binion and his wife were there and we got to telling stories about the old days and really had lots of laughs. Everyone there said we should write a book about the Jack Struass, Jimmy Chagra, Sailor Roberts and Benny Binion tales we told.

I’ll tell you one of the Chagra stories. Jimmy Chagra was a big time dope dealer 30 years ago. He also allegedly hired Charles Harrelson (Woody’s dad) to kill a federal judge. Jimmy loved to gamble with us playing poker and golf, but he got sent to prison. He got out after 30 years and walked into Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio. He was watching us play and sweet little Jennifer Harman was loser. She turned around, cursed him and made him move. Then she lost another hand, called the floorman and demanded he be removed from the room. After he left, I told Jennifer who and what he was. She said she didn’t care if he was Al Capone, she didn’t want him watching anymore. That confirmed what I already knew. Don’t spit into the wind, don’t fool with Superman’s cape and don’t fool with Jennifer when she is losing

-DB

DOYLISM OF THE DAY: “The biggest problem you will ever have watches you from the mirror every day.”

The Main Event is still going on at the WSOP. The pros are getting fewer and fewer but that’s what makes a great tournament, anyone can get lucky and win.
I did my very best to at least go deep but just couldn’t hang on. I understand only too well that survival is the key for the first two days in a big field like the WSOP. But as day 1 wound down, I was sitting on a little under $30,000 and flopped a set against a player who had re-raised. To my surprise, my opponent didn’t just bet, he moved in on me. There was no straight or flush possible, so I had to call. Turns out he was drawing at a straight and made it and the board didn’t pair. Out the first day for the 3rd year in a row. How do you play “small ball” poker when that happens?

The good news is that the cash games at the Bellagio are really, really good. In fact, I haven’t seen games like the ones going on for years. There are millions of dollars on the two tables in Bobby’s Room every night. The high action games have even moved out into the main poker rooms because there are so many of them. I saw two 4-8 thousand mixed games, a 3-6k mixed game, a 2-4 mixed and a 2-4k blind pot limit Omaha going at the same time. There are lots of Europeans playing with the local players and huge amounts of money are being won and lost. A French business man seems to be the big winner but it’s hard to be accurate on winners and losers. I know myself that I’m small winner but have played 3 pots with a million dollars in the middle. I won one, lost one, and split a huge pot with Patrik Antonius when we dealt the turn + river 4 times. I had a set against 2 pair bigger than my set and a flush draw. But the biggest disappointment was when Gus Hansen hit runner-runner with all the cash in on the flop. Oh well, the games are good and will be there for another week or so.

If you like Chinese poker, the games have accelerated to 10K a point. That is the biggest Chinese games I’ve seen with half a million or more swings every night. I played a couple of time with not much of a result but I’ve played Chinese poker hundreds of hours, so I’m a very good player. The secret is how you play your bad hands; everyone plays the good hands properly.

I’m amazed at how well I’ve held up this past 6 weeks. I did lots of interviews, played several tournaments, did 4 seminars with Mike Caro, took care of everyday problems at home with Louise being out of the country and played a few cash games before I was knocked out of the WSOP. Then I caught the “flu” or whatever was going around at the tournament but just kept going because the cash games were so good. I even changed my sleeping hours where I could stay up all night. I’ve averaged playing 12-14 hours a day and have completely recovered from the illness. I feel strong and thank God I inherited the stamina from the Brunson genes.

Speaking of the genes, Pam Brunson, my daughter, outlasted Todd and I in the Main Event to win the “Last Brunson Standing” for the 3rd year in a row. I can’t remember the last tournament she didn’t outlast both of us (and Hoyt Corkins). Now Todd and I have to listen to her for another year. Just kidding Pam, nice going, I know you are getting better and better.

I saw the list of nominees for the Poker Hall of Fame. There are some great players, 10 were nominated, but my vote has to go to Mike Sexton or Barry Greenstein. Some of the others are too young and some don’t fit the criteria that are required for being elected. Phil Ivey is one that is a cinch to be inducted, but not this year because of his young age. Of course he is still alive in the Main Event and if he somehow wins, I’ll vote for him now.

-DB

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